Flat fell through, estate agent have my deposit - can i charge interest?

tnfjackson

Hi,

Couldn't quite see a thread on this but apologies if it's in there somewhere!

I put down a holding deposit on 13th Nov for a flat I planned to rent. The landlord agreed with the offered rent payment and we were progressing with the credit checks etc. but then, on 16th Nov, the landlord changed his mind and decided he wanted to renovate the flat to get a higher rent income. Unfortunately meant we can't move in, whole things collapsed but no issues there, just disappointed.

The issue is that I paid the estate agent this money and am still waiting to have it repaid to me. To my knowledge it is in their bank account as it was just a holding deposit and would have gone towards the first month's upfront rent had Landlord not changed his mind. They advised it might take 7 days to come through and are therefore in my mind profiteering from having my money in their account.

My father is in the construction/property trade and was fuming that they didn't transfer it back to me the same day as the landlord pulled out and believes I am entitled to request the repayment of my money and interest for the days they are holding my money.

What is my legal position? Am I entitled to charge interest on the money they have been holding as compensation for my own lost interest and if so, from date could I charge the interest?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Twopints

I think you should sue them for the interest.

For every £100 @ 0.5 % (BoE base rate) / 52 weeks = approx £0.01

Good luck.

:beer:

Surrey_EA

Given the level of current interest rates available at the bank, how much interest do you think you may have missed out on?

HampshireH

Goodluck.... look forward to hearing what you are going to spend it all on;)

On a more serious note. Most businesses say it could take this long to process a refund. Its not unusual.

What did the terms and conditions you read before handing the deposit over say? If it says they return within 24 hours then you have a case.

If not then there was no agreed timescale to work to.

But as others have said how much do you expect back?

ThePants999

To be fair, while you're not losing out on much interest, it IS crap for them to take multiple days to return it. It doesn't actually take any significant amount of time, it's just about when they get around to doing it.

tnfjackson

Thanks for comments.

Admittedly there is no timescale as there was no agreement other than if I had been the one to pull out then I forfeit the money.

Don't expect massive amounts back but it's the principle of a business profiteering from an individual rather than me expecting lots of lost money. It took me minutes to transfer it to their bank account online, assume it is the same for them to return it.

FYI - With Christmas coming up, I wanted to buy a few Freddo chocolate bars with that interest. Interest currently stands at 10 Freddos.

Typhoon2000

They will have a bank bussiness bank account so will not be getting any interest and more likely be charged for transactions, so hard to see how they are "profiteering".

Thrugelmir

tnfjackson wrote: »

Don't expect massive amounts back but it's the principle of a business profiteering from an individual rather than me expecting lots of lost money.

The agent wasted their valuable time too. Time costs money.

tnfjackson

Thrugelmir wrote: »

The agent wasted their valuable time too. Time costs money.

True, time does cost money. My time being wasted will cost money from estate agent. Estate agent's time being waster will cost money from the landlord.

Also to a previous point, some business accounts do earn interest.

It's a just a bad situation all round!

pimento

I'd be annoyed if I needed the deposit to put down on another flat.

tnfjackson

pimento wrote: »

I'd be annoyed if I needed the deposit to put down on another flat.

That's part of the problem, the other half is having to front up alot (to make up for missing money) for the deposit on another place, luckily she's got enough to cover it just before payday!